Recently (like last weekend) I was just in Belgium for 3 days for my birthday and to see a friend. During this whirlwind trip we spent my actual birthday (May 4th) in Brussels, sightseeing and day drinking Belgium beer (yum). I have never been to this country and therefore never to Brussels and it was fantastic! What a beautiful city.
During our 1 day visit, we heard there was a Rockabilly festival under the famous Atomium and decided to end our trip checking the music out and of course this fascinating structure in the below photo.
A Look Inside the 1958 Brussels Worlds Fair
The Atomium is on Heysel Plateau which is the original grounds of the 1958 Brussels World Fair (and what this weeks blog post is about). Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak, the nine spheres (which was the main pavilion) represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
It symbolized the democratic will to maintain peace among all the nations, faith in progress, both technical and scientific and, finally, an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, super-technological world for a better life for mankind (Source).
Isn’t it cool?! Trust me when I say…see this in person if you ever visit. It’s pretty darn amazing.
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After we left, I was still blown away by what I saw and decided that I wanted to learn more about the 1958 Expo and report back to my readers with pictures, advertising and even videos.
Lets see what I found….
Vintage Images, Pavilions & Travel Posters
The Philips Pavilion
Commissioned by electronics manufacturer Philips, the pavilion was designed to house a multimedia spectacle that celebrated postwar technological progress (Source).
Philips Pavilion -Source: Wikipedia
Another view of the pavilion this time with the the Atomium in the background and people in 1950s fashions walking around.
Source: Archdaily.com
When you arrive at the World’s Fair, you will receive a friendly reception. 1958 Travel poster.
Fun Fact:
The 1958 Fair was the first major World Expo registered under the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) after World War II. Attendance was 51, 454, 412 over 500 acres and ran from April 7th to October 19th 1958.
1950s vintage photos of people in 1950s fashions walking around the Fair.
Source: Flickr
Source: Flickr
The Canada Pavilion
Source: Wikipedia
The USA Pavilion
The US Pavilion was quite spacious and included a fashion show with models walking down a large spiral staircase, an electronic computer that demonstrated a knowledge of history, and a color television studio behind glass (Source).
Source: Wikipedia
The Belgian Pavilion
Expo 58 visitors crossing a pedestrian bridge over a three-dimensional scale map of the Belgian landscape, on display near its pavilion in July 1958.
Source: Wikipedia
The Soviet Union Pavilion
The Soviet pavilion was a large impressive building which they folded up and took back to Russia when Expo 58 ended. They had a facsimile of Sputnik which mysteriously disappeared, and they accused the US of stealing it (Source). OHHHHH….Interesting!
Source: Wikipedia
Fun Fact
The autograph of Mozart’s Requiem was placed on display. At some point, someone was able to gain access to the manuscript, tearing off the bottom right-hand corner of the second to last page (folio 99r/45r), containing the words “Quam olim d: C:”. As of 2012 the perpetrator has not been identified and the fragment has not been recovered (Source).
Source: Wikipedia
Glass and Ceramics Pavilion
United Nations Pavilion
All the Mid Century Modern Architecture is so fantastic, I’m loving these photos!
Beautiful Garden with people walking under a walkway covered in vines.
Source: Flickr
Source: Flickr
Now for a couple of videos showing the Expo in “real time”.
Lastly it’s important for me to mention that the fair was not all fun, the expo also had a horrible exhibit some people were calling the Human Zoo. I’m not going to go into details on this, but you can read about it here. Lets just say…not okay.
Question time: Have you ever been to Brussels? What did you love about it if you have? How about an Expo? Share in the comments below.
Thanks for stopping by!
Further Reading:
- Chicago World’s Fair – Century of Progress 1933-1934
- Vintage Travel 1920s-1960s (Archived Blog Posts)
Liz
Vintage Travel:
Would you like to see the Atomium yourself? Viator is a tour company I have used on several of my trips and they have lots of tour options for Brussels. Take a look below!
Note: Viator is an Affiliate Link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you!
Wow I’ve been studying the 1950’s for almost 3 years now and this is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen. I’m just blown away by video #1. The quality and vivid color is the best I’ve seen from that era, not to mention the Expo itself is very interesting. Great post!
I’m so happy you loved the post! The expo was pretty cool and it was really fun to do a bunch of research on it and watch those videos. Great way to step back in time 🙂
Thanks for the lovely comment!
Liz
Thanks for sharing. I have full memories of Expo 67 in Montreal, since it was virtually on our doorstep. The Brussels World Fair was just a name to me.
My Dad went to Expo 67 as a kid and he talks about it all the time, on how cool it was. Glad you enjoyed the Brussels version Susan 🙂
Hi Liz. Great post brings back memories for me as my parents told me about attending this expo. I wasn’t there as I was only 2 at the time but did see it later a couple of times. Great marvel of technology and it shows you how much all has changed. One thing video 1 Reminded me was the clothing. Most people were very well dressed at all times when going out in public. Was nice to see the effort was made. Even traveling as a young man I would always wear a suit when getting on a plane. Keep up the good work Liz 👍👍👍👍
I love the images of people when they travel, the golden days of dressing up are long long gone. So cool that your parents were there Cornel!
Liz
My family attended the Expo in 1958 and I returned to Brussels as an adult in 1984 and 1994 again saw the magnificent Atomium.
That is fantastic! How amazing that must of been to have seen all the different years. Thanks for sharing David!
Liz